Apple's smartphone market share plunges

Though RIM is on the up

Apple’s iPhone took 19.2 per cent of the smart phone market in the US for the first quarter of 2008, down from 26.7 per cent in Q4 2007, according to research firm IDC.

RIM’s BlackBerry, which managed to garner 35.1 per cent of the market at the tail end of last year, picked up some of the excess by leaping to almost half of all smart phones, at 44.5 per cent of the US market.

Christmas fruits

IDC attributed this change to Apple faring well in the holiday season, where the iPhone was seen as more of a gift, and RIM successfully attacking what it dubbed the 'prosumer' market, for professionals who want a bit more from their mobile.

Including overseas sales, Apple sold 1.7 million iPhones in Q1 of this year, quite some way shy of its target of 10 million devices to be sold in 2008, though the addition of the hotly-anticipated 3G iPhone this month should bolster numbers.

RIM is also likley to be active in new markets, with the launch of its Kickstart BlackBerry flip phone likely to be aimed more at the consumer market.

Also included in the survey was the news Palm grabbed some market share too, rising 5.5 per cent to 13.4. However, the company was down from 23 per cent at the same time last year, so things don’t look too rosy over at the hand-sized firm.